Water deficit effects on potato leaf growth and transpiration: Utilizing fraction extractable soil water for comparison with other crops

Randall Weisz, John Kaminski, Zane Smilowitz

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

64 Scopus citations

Abstract

Numerous studies have demonstrated that physiological responses of many crops to the fraction of extractable soil water conforms to a generalizable pattern. This suggests that differences among crops in their drought tolerance are largely due to differences in the total amount of transpirable water the crop can extract. Potato is frequently assumed to be more drought sensitive than other agronomic crops due, at least in part, to a shallow root system. In the research reported here, potato leaf growth and transpiration response to water deficits were determined as a function of fraction transpirable soil water (FTSW). Transpiration was unaffected by water stress until a critical FTSW was achieved when 64% to 80% of the extractable soil water was depleted depending on the cultivar. This was similar to the response reported for 8 other agronomic crops. In terms of transpiration, potato hypersensitivity to drought stress appears to be due to less effective soil water extraction. Leaf growth, however, showed a unique response to soil water deficits. Leaf growth began to decline when 40% of the extractable soil water was depleted. The associated critical FTSW was higher than any previously reported for all other crops. These data indicate that in addition to extracting less soil water, an additional physiological process related to leaf expansion must be contributing to the potato's hypersensitivity to drought.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)829-840
Number of pages12
JournalAmerican Potato Journal
Volume71
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 1994

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Plant Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Water deficit effects on potato leaf growth and transpiration: Utilizing fraction extractable soil water for comparison with other crops'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this